My family and I will be traveling to South America for a week in 2 months. We've had our puppy for not even a month yet. We were thinking leaving him in a dog hotel or maybe bringing him with us. It's an 8 hr flight, and Im just wondering if any of you have traveled with your dogs, how the experience was? I just worry that when we leave the plane he might poop or pee there in his crate while we are going through immigration and all that stuff.
Traveling abroad with a puppy
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How old is the puppy? That I'm just curious about but if he's 8 weeks or 8 months old I think traveling with him to South America would be disastrous. He could get sick, traumatized for life, and/or die. It might even be illegal to bring a dog with you without him going into quarantine. Most countries make animals go through that if they allow them in. Did you ever hear about that situation with Johnny Depp's dogs almost getting put down because he snuck them in without that? Many countries have laws restricting foreign animals. And even if you did bring him...what would he be doing? Who would take care of him? I assume you and your family would be doing tourist things or out having fun, not taking care of the dog. Taking him would also make the vacation less enjoyable for everyone. You'd have to find a pet friendly hotel and I don't know if there are many/any there. And you would risk losing him or him getting stolen in a foreign country. Unless it's ABSOLUTELY necessary because of a family move, dogs should be kept off airplanes. I think it would be best you board him or get a pet sitter, either a friend/family member or pet sitting company to care for him in your home.
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Your dog will be about six months old by then, right?
Taking a dog overseas can be a very involved process. You would need to check the entry policies of the country you'll be visiting as well as the airline's procedures for carrying dogs. It will be complicated and difficult, and as Tracie pointed out, potentially quite stressful for your dog.
I would recommend looking for a friend or a pet sitter who can care for your dog in their home. Because your trip will be long, you can try to negotiate a lower rate with a pet sitter. I've done that, and it's worked out very well for my dog and me.
Taking a dog overseas can be a very involved process. You would need to check the entry policies of the country you'll be visiting as well as the airline's procedures for carrying dogs. It will be complicated and difficult, and as Tracie pointed out, potentially quite stressful for your dog.
I would recommend looking for a friend or a pet sitter who can care for your dog in their home. Because your trip will be long, you can try to negotiate a lower rate with a pet sitter. I've done that, and it's worked out very well for my dog and me.
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Its best to leave the puppy with someone you trust because theres so much to go through. you need a pet moving company esp if a big breed and depends on the country the procedure and regulations you have to follow.
For example my dog Jessie(one in avatar) is moving with me to the UK and ive had to research it alot turns out she has to have all her annual vaccines done(which thankfully due), get a rabies vaccine 3 weeks prior at the same time as that the vet has to fill in a form which i have to scan and email venturepet , then 2 days prior to flying she has to go to the vet who has to worm her and fill in the worming form and sign off on it.
ALSO need a microchip that is ISO standard thankfully the NZ ones are that standard i just learnt. Also only topical flea treatment allowed is frontline which Jessie hates and only wormer is drontal but because of her intolerances to wormers we are allowed to use endoguard and give anti nausea injection straight after it.
also note they need a IATA travel crate. honestly for flying her for export and clearance fees and import its $3050 add on $139 for annual vaccines, $90 rabies vaccine, cost of crate bedding comes close to $4000 nzd that is.
i know your only going on holiday and want to take your pup with you i admire you for that but please think of all this very carefully he or she will be better at home with a pet sitter, in a kennel or with someone they know and you trust. esp as will still be toilet training? btw Jessie is only flying one way
For example my dog Jessie(one in avatar) is moving with me to the UK and ive had to research it alot turns out she has to have all her annual vaccines done(which thankfully due), get a rabies vaccine 3 weeks prior at the same time as that the vet has to fill in a form which i have to scan and email venturepet , then 2 days prior to flying she has to go to the vet who has to worm her and fill in the worming form and sign off on it.
ALSO need a microchip that is ISO standard thankfully the NZ ones are that standard i just learnt. Also only topical flea treatment allowed is frontline which Jessie hates and only wormer is drontal but because of her intolerances to wormers we are allowed to use endoguard and give anti nausea injection straight after it.
also note they need a IATA travel crate. honestly for flying her for export and clearance fees and import its $3050 add on $139 for annual vaccines, $90 rabies vaccine, cost of crate bedding comes close to $4000 nzd that is.
i know your only going on holiday and want to take your pup with you i admire you for that but please think of all this very carefully he or she will be better at home with a pet sitter, in a kennel or with someone they know and you trust. esp as will still be toilet training? btw Jessie is only flying one way
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You're only going for a week -- trust me, he'll be much happier being left at home.
We'd had our girl for barely 2 months when we had to travel for 3 weeks (poor timing, I know). She's fearful of strangers but great with dogs, so we found a situation with her that was basically just a wide open space for the dogs to play with minimal interaction with handlers. We knew this would be the least stressful environment *for her*. Know your dog's preferences and find the right situation for them.
In 6 months time I'm traveling back to my home country (US) for 6 weeks to have an extended visit with family and friends. For that duration, the dog will come with me as I can better keep up her normal routine. However, I'm staying at my parent's house not in hotels. She is quite used to traveling and staying at other people's houses as I bring her with me when visiting friends around Europe (driving). So I know that aside from the plane travel (she'll fly on the same plane as me just in the hold) it will be quite a stress free trip for her. She's also crate trained and will be trained specifically with her IATA crate one month before departure so that she recognizes it as her "safe zone". Hopefully that will make the plane travel a little less scary.
For a week -- no way would I put my dog through that. For a month or more -- it would depend on my schedule and situation while traveling (do I have the time to devote to her that she needs, do I have the accommodation that would work for her, what are the country-to-country travel requiremnts for her, etc).
We'd had our girl for barely 2 months when we had to travel for 3 weeks (poor timing, I know). She's fearful of strangers but great with dogs, so we found a situation with her that was basically just a wide open space for the dogs to play with minimal interaction with handlers. We knew this would be the least stressful environment *for her*. Know your dog's preferences and find the right situation for them.
In 6 months time I'm traveling back to my home country (US) for 6 weeks to have an extended visit with family and friends. For that duration, the dog will come with me as I can better keep up her normal routine. However, I'm staying at my parent's house not in hotels. She is quite used to traveling and staying at other people's houses as I bring her with me when visiting friends around Europe (driving). So I know that aside from the plane travel (she'll fly on the same plane as me just in the hold) it will be quite a stress free trip for her. She's also crate trained and will be trained specifically with her IATA crate one month before departure so that she recognizes it as her "safe zone". Hopefully that will make the plane travel a little less scary.
For a week -- no way would I put my dog through that. For a month or more -- it would depend on my schedule and situation while traveling (do I have the time to devote to her that she needs, do I have the accommodation that would work for her, what are the country-to-country travel requiremnts for her, etc).
my puppy will be 6 months by the time we would travel. He has a michrochip as well. I know he needs a vet vcertification that he is ok to travel. I'd be staying at my sister's house over there. I wanted to take him with me because I thought he would miss us terribly, but now I'm more lean to leave him here after all your comments. Anyone living in NYC that can recommend a pet sitter or dog hotel?
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You might try a service like www.rover.com to find a pet sitter. In my case, I just asked around and a colleague introduced a retired friend.
Two eight-hour flights a week apart is just a lot of flying time for a puppy, and if you can avoid it, your puppy would be better off.
Two eight-hour flights a week apart is just a lot of flying time for a puppy, and if you can avoid it, your puppy would be better off.
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When you find out, let me know!
One of the biggest pains of having a dog is the cramp in my traveling plans. I love big dogs, but for the life of me I wish I had gotten a small dog so I could I could pack it as carry on and stick it under the seat in front of me on a flight.
God knows I'm not going to put it in cargo, because it's dangerous. There are several airlines without a good system for taking care of animals, and if you're using such an airline, there can be issues with transferring the dog at stopovers and picking it up once you get there.
And this is just for domestic travel. When you're abroad, there are so many other issues with visas and passports and forms. Your dog might pick up health issue there, and then not be able to be accepted back in the United States.
That said, I've met people who say it's super easy. A friend at the dog park goes to Cyprus often with her large breed. She said it's no big deal.
All I know is that there seems to be a lot of work and money involved
One of the biggest pains of having a dog is the cramp in my traveling plans. I love big dogs, but for the life of me I wish I had gotten a small dog so I could I could pack it as carry on and stick it under the seat in front of me on a flight.
God knows I'm not going to put it in cargo, because it's dangerous. There are several airlines without a good system for taking care of animals, and if you're using such an airline, there can be issues with transferring the dog at stopovers and picking it up once you get there.
And this is just for domestic travel. When you're abroad, there are so many other issues with visas and passports and forms. Your dog might pick up health issue there, and then not be able to be accepted back in the United States.
That said, I've met people who say it's super easy. A friend at the dog park goes to Cyprus often with her large breed. She said it's no big deal.
All I know is that there seems to be a lot of work and money involved
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